Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of 2 Samuel
Chapter 21: After That God Was Intreated for the Land
A three-year famine drives David to enquire of the LORD, who reveals it is bloodguilt for Saul's broken oath to the Gibeonites. Atonement is made, a grieving mother keeps a heartbreaking vigil, the bones of Saul and Jonathan are honorably buried, and God is at last entreated for the land. Then the aging king and his mighty men fell the last of the giants.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of 2 Samuel chapter 21, part of the closing appendix to the book. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
The Famine and the Gibeonites (2 Samuel 21:1-9)
A famine reveals the bloodguilt of Saul's broken oath, and atonement is required for the innocent blood he shed.
It Is for Saul, and for His Bloody House
"Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.) Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the LORD? And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you. And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel, Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said, I will give them. But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD'S oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite: And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest."
Word Study
"atonement," Hebrew kaphar (כָּפַר), "to cover, make atonement, appease, cancel guilt." David asks, "wherewith shall I make the atonement (kaphar)?" The famine came because Saul had violated Israel's ancient sworn covenant with the Gibeonites (Joshua 9), shedding innocent blood in his misguided "zeal." Though generations had passed, the guilt of broken oath and spilled blood still lay on the land, for "blood... defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it" (Numbers 35:33). This is a hard passage to modern ears, but it presses two solemn truths: God takes sworn covenants with deadly seriousness, "when thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it" (Ecclesiastes 5:4), and innocent blood cries out for justice and cannot simply be ignored. Note too that David spared Mephibosheth "because of the LORD'S oath", another oath, faithfully kept, protects the one under it. The chapter turns on the weight of covenants: broken, they bring judgment; kept, they bring protection. All of it points to the deeper truth that guilt requires atonement, a covering, which only blood can provide.
Explanation
A three-year famine drives David to seek the LORD, who reveals its cause: bloodguilt resting on the land because Saul had massacred the Gibeonites, breaking the solemn oath Israel had sworn to them centuries earlier under Joshua. David asks the wronged Gibeonites how atonement can be made. They refuse money and ask instead that seven of Saul's male descendants be handed over to be executed, a life-for-life reckoning by the standards of that age for the house that had sought their extermination. David complies, but faithfully spares Mephibosheth for the sake of his oath to Jonathan, giving up instead two sons of Rizpah and five grandsons of Saul. They are put to death at the start of the barley harvest. It is a grim account of covenant justice, the long shadow of Saul's sin, and the seriousness with which God regards a broken oath and innocent blood.
Gospel Focus
This sober chapter presses the reality that guilt must be atoned for; it cannot simply be waved away. Saul's broken oath and shed blood defiled the land for years, and only atonement could cleanse it. So all human sin has left a real guilt that a holy God cannot ignore, and no silver or gold can cover it, "ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold" (1 Peter 1:18). The famine of David's day whispers what the whole Old Testament shouts: without shedding of blood there is no remission (Hebrews 9:22). But where the Gibeonites required the blood of the guilty house, the gospel proclaims a better atonement: the innocent Son of God shed His own blood to cover the guilt of the guilty, so that the true "inheritance of the LORD" might be blessed. And David's faithful sparing of Mephibosheth "because of the LORD'S oath" reminds us that the oath-keeping God protects all who are under His covenant; the promises He has sworn will never fail those who shelter in them.
Rizpah and the Burial (2 Samuel 21:10-14)
Rizpah's heartbreaking watch over her sons moves David to give Saul's house honorable burial, and God is entreated for the land.
Until Water Dropped Upon Them Out of Heaven
"And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night. And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabeshgilead, which had stolen them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa: And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged. And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land."
Word Study
"God was intreated for the land," Hebrew atar (עָתַר), "to be entreated, to grant a plea, to be prevailed upon by prayer." The section ends, "after that God was intreated (atar) for the land", the famine broke, the heavens gave rain, once justice was satisfied and the dead were honorably buried. At the center stands Rizpah, a grieving mother whose devotion is one of the most poignant scenes in Scripture. For months, from the barley harvest until the rains came, she watched over the exposed bodies of her sons and kinsmen on the rock, driving off the vultures by day and the wild beasts by night, so that they would not be devoured. Her tireless, sorrowful love, refusing to abandon her dead, moved David to gather the bones of Saul, Jonathan, and the seven, and give them all honorable burial in the family tomb. There is a quiet beauty here: a mother's faithful love honored the dead when no one else would, and even the king was stirred by it. God, who marks a sparrow's fall, surely marked Rizpah's vigil; and only after the demands of justice and the dignity of the dead were both met was He "intreated for the land." Mercy followed justice; rain followed atonement.
Explanation
Rizpah, mother of two of the executed men, cannot bear to see the bodies dishonored. She spreads sackcloth on the rock and keeps a long, lonely watch, from the spring harvest until the autumn rains, guarding the corpses from birds and beasts. Word of her devotion reaches David and stirs his conscience. He gathers not only the bones of the seven but also the bones of Saul and Jonathan, which the men of Jabesh-gilead had rescued long before, and gives them all a proper burial in the ancestral tomb of Kish in Benjamin. Only then, with justice satisfied and the dead honored, does the text record, "after that God was intreated for the land", the famine ends. A mother's faithful grief and a king's act of honor together close the long, sad account of Saul's sin.
Gospel Focus
Rizpah's vigil is a moving picture of faithful, self-forgetting love that will not abandon its own, and it preaches to us. She could not raise her sons, but she could honor them, and her devotion moved the king to act. Love that keeps watch in sorrow, that will not give up even on the dead, is precious in God's sight. And the turning point, "after that God was intreated for the land," teaches that God's mercy meets us on the far side of justice honored; when guilt is atoned and what is right is done, the heavens open again. This is the shape of the gospel in miniature: justice satisfied, then rain, then blessing. In Christ the demands of justice were fully met at the cross, and now the heavens are open, God is "intreated," and the barren land of the sinner's life can bear fruit again. Where sin brought famine, atonement brings rain. Let Rizpah's love stir you to faithful devotion, and let the entreated God assure you that beyond the cross lies mercy for the guilty and life for the dead.
War With the Philistine Giants (2 Samuel 21:15-22)
The aging David is rescued in battle, and his mighty men strike down the last of the giants.
Quench Not the Light of Israel
"Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed faint. And Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel. And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was of the sons of the giant. And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant. And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea the brother of David slew him. These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants."
Word Study
"the light of Israel," Hebrew ner Yisrael (נֵר יִשְׂרָאֵל), "the lamp of Israel." When the aging David grows faint in battle and is nearly killed by the giant Ishbibenob, Abishai rescues him, and his men swear he shall fight no more, "that thou quench not the light (lamp, ner) of Israel." David is called the lamp of Israel, the LORD's anointed through whom God's light and blessing shine to the nation, and this echoes God's promise to give David "a lamp" that would not be put out (compare 1 Kings 11:36; Psalm 132:17, "I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed"). That lamp would burn on through David's line to the true Light of the world, "in him was life; and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4). The section also shows the young champion of Goliath now grown old and dependent on others; the day comes when even the mightiest must let others carry the battle. Yet the war against the giants goes on and is won, "by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants." The victory begun by the king is carried forward by his people, a picture of Christ's triumph continued through His church against every towering foe.
Explanation
The chapter closes with four accounts of battles against the remaining Philistine giants, the kin of Goliath. In one, David, now old, "waxed faint" and is nearly killed by the giant Ishbibenob, until Abishai rescues him; afterward his men make him promise to stay out of battle, lest "the light of Israel" be extinguished. Then three more giants fall to David's mighty men: Sibbechai kills Saph; Elhanan slays Lahmi, the brother of Goliath (as 1 Chronicles 20:5 makes explicit); and Jonathan, David's nephew, kills a six-fingered, six-toed giant of Gath. "These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants." The shepherd who once felled Goliath alone now sees the last of that fearsome clan destroyed through the courage of the men he trained and led.
Gospel Focus
Two truths shine from these battles. First, David is "the light of Israel," the lamp God promised would not be put out, and that lamp burns on through his line to the true Light of the world, Jesus Christ, "the light of men." God preserves His anointed and His purpose; the lamp is not quenched, but shines on to Bethlehem and beyond. Second, the war against the giants, begun by David alone against Goliath, is now won "by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants." The champion's victory becomes the shared victory of his people. So the decisive triumph over the great enemy was won by our Champion, Christ, once and for all; yet He carries that victory forward through His servants, empowering us to overcome the giants that still defy God, "in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us" (Romans 8:37). The aging David needing rescue reminds us our strength fails; but the light of Israel does not, and the King's servants, leaning on Him, still fell giants in His name.
Chapter 21 in Review
2 Samuel 21, part of the book's closing appendix, opens with a three-year famine that God reveals to be bloodguilt for Saul's broken oath to the Gibeonites. David seeks atonement, and at the Gibeonites' word seven of Saul's descendants are put to death, though Mephibosheth is spared for the sake of the oath to Jonathan. Rizpah's long, heartbreaking vigil over the bodies moves David to bury Saul, Jonathan, and the seven with honor, and "after that God was intreated for the land." The chapter closes with four battles against the last of the Philistine giants, in which the aging David is rescued and the giants fall by the hand of the king and his servants.
For the Apostolic reader, the chapter presses the seriousness of broken oaths and innocent blood, and the truth that guilt requires atonement, a covering only blood can provide, pointing to the better atonement in the blood of Christ. Rizpah's faithful love and the entreated God show that mercy meets us beyond justice honored: justice satisfied, then rain. And the felling of the giants proclaims David as "the light of Israel," the lamp that burns on to the true Light, Jesus, whose decisive victory over the great enemy is carried forward through His servants, more than conquerors through Him.
- God takes broken oaths and innocent blood with deadly seriousness; guilt requires atonement.
- No silver or gold could cover it; only blood, pointing to the precious blood of Christ.
- Rizpah's faithful love honored the dead; "after that God was intreated", mercy meets us beyond justice.
- David is "the light of Israel," the lamp that burns on to Christ; the King's victory continues through His servants.
Questions for Reflection
- Do you take your vows and the weight of innocent blood as seriously as God does?
- Where do you need to rest in the atonement that covers guilt no silver could cancel?
- What giants still defy God in your life, that the Champion would have you fell in His strength?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The famine and the Gibeonites; broken oaths and atonement: 2 Samuel 21:1-9; Joshua 9; Numbers 35:33; Ecclesiastes 5:4; 1 Peter 1:18; Hebrews 9:22.
- Rizpah's vigil; God entreated for the land: 2 Samuel 21:10-14.
- War with the giants; the light of Israel; the King's victory through His servants: 2 Samuel 21:15-22; 1 Kings 11:36; Psalm 132:17; John 1:4; 1 Chronicles 20:5; Romans 8:37.